Worship, Revised and Expanded Edition: Reformed according to Scripture

by Hughes Oliphant Old

When the Genevan Psalter, or as it is more popularly called, the Huguenot Psalter, was finally finished, it was a classic, providing the prototype of Reformed psalmody for generations to come. Unfortunately Calvin did not follow the lead of Strasbourg and Constance in maintaining a balance between psalmody and hymnody. The Genevan Psalter, while it contained a few gospel canticles and catechetical pieces, settled almost exclusively for psalmody. In the preface to the Genevan Psalter Calvin gives us his reasons for this: “The psalms incite us to praise God, to pray to Him, to meditate on His works to the end that we love Him, fear, honor and glorify Him. What St. Augustine says is quite true, one can not sing anything more worthy of God than that which we have received from Him.” For this reason, Calvin continues, no matter where we search, we will not find better or more appropriate songs for our worship than the Psalms of David. For after all, these songs come from the Holy Spirit. When we sing them, God himself is putting the words in our mouths so that he himself sings within us, exalting his glory. For this reason, Calvin tells us, Chrysostom exhorts men, women, and children regularly to sing the psalms so that in this way they might join themselves to the company of the angels. One notices that Calvin does not appeal to the authority of Scripture in this matter. In defending his preference for psalmody, Calvin appeals not to Scripture but to John Chrysostom (ca. 347–4...

But how can one deny what augustine is stating